The Importance of the Son

Transcript

GRM 1176
12/24/2017
The Importance of the Son
Hebrews 1:1-3
Gil Rugh

We're going to turn in our Bibles to Hebrews 1. We are celebrating the birth of Christ, much attention focused on Him. We were in a store this week and just noticed the songs being played. And we commented, I wonder how many people have given attention to the words that are being sung. Some of the songs being sung, even in secular places today, the music being played, the words are biblical. They are clear. Wonder how many people enjoy singing the Christmas carols and songs associated with Christmas really stop and think how significant the birth of this baby was, what it really means. I thought it would be good for us, even as believers, to remind ourselves of the importance of God's Son, His greatness and just appreciate what it means that He was born at Bethlehem some 2000 years ago.

If you are familiar, the book of Hebrews is about God's Son, that's the focus of the whole book—His existence before He was born at Bethlehem, the focus on His birth and what that meant, and events that have to do with eternity. The importance of the Son. In fact the letter to the Hebrews begins in chapter 1 by saying, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” And he draws the contrast, anytime God would speak, that would be of great importance. And He spoke through Old Testament times in a variety of ways to a variety of individuals.

We have much of that record recorded for us, what we call our Old Testament. But that pales in significance to the impact and importance of God in verse 2, “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” That's not to say there was something wrong with the prior revelation, it was fully true, it was a revelation from God and about God, His purposes, His plans. But with the coming of the One who is the Son of God, there was a fullness and a clarity in what is revealed that had not been experienced before. You have the Son of God stepping from heaven, being born into the human race, so you literally have God walking this earth in a human body. He is fully human and fully divine. What an awesome event.

So the book of Hebrews opens up elaborating on the greatness of the Son of God, which reminds us of His importance. I just want to walk through these opening verses with you, there are seven facts stated about the Son of God in verses 2-3 that show something of His greatness, the superiority of the Person and work of Christ. We'll walk through these individually, then we'll summarize them as we get to the end.

First note he said “in these last days God has spoken to us in His Son whom He appointed heir of all things.” God appointed His Son heir of all things. The Father and the Son always work in complete harmony and in complete agreement. And God the Father appointed the Son to be the heir of all things. So that child born at Bethlehem is the One in the eternal plan of God who did not begin His existence at Bethlehem, but as the prophet Micah said in anticipating His birth at Bethlehem, He is the One who would be born at Bethlehem who has dwelt in eternity. So He is appointed to be heir of all things. This is the One in whom all the purposes and plans of God for His creation will be realized.

Come back to Psalm 2, a very familiar psalm, prophesying events associated with Jesus Christ and His birth, life, His ultimate reigning is the focus. Psalm 2 opens up, “Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed.” Isn't it amazing that mere created human beings should think they could stand against God and the One He has anointed to be ruler over all?

Verse 7, “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will surely give the nations as your inheritance, the very ends of the earth as your possession.” He is the One destined to rule and to reign over all. The fact that the nations of the earth join in opposition to Christ, peoples of the earth may unite in large numbers to oppose Him, it is nothing to God. “He who sits in the heavens will laugh,” verse 4, “the Lord scoffs at them.”

Remember this is the God who said in another place in the Old Testament through His prophet, the nations of the earth aren't even like a speck of dust on the scale compared to the greatness of our God and His purposes to be realized in His Son. He is the One in whom everything will climax with his ruling and reigning over all. He is the heir of all things. The nations and all creation belong to Him, He will ultimately take possession. It was announced through the prophets, it was announced when He was born. He is the One born to be king of the Jews, He is the One born to rule and reign. Now further revelation made clear that first He had to come and suffer and die, which we will see in a little bit.

But He has been appointed heir of all things. That's where the Bible ends, remember, in Revelation 19-22 Christ returns in power and great glory, He will judge and destroy His enemies, He will establish a kingdom over which He will rule forever. He is the heir of all things. That's where we are going, that's how it all ends. He is the heir of all things.

Come back to Hebrews. We won't delve into this, but the Bible says for those who place their faith in Christ, we are heirs and co-heirs with Jesus Christ. And when He enters into His inheritance and takes possession of all creation, those who belong to Him will join in that inheritance. Romans 8:17, we are heirs and co-heirs with Christ; Galatians 4:7 tells us the same truth, we are heirs with Christ who is the heir of everything.

Second thing said about the Son of God in Hebrews 1:2 is that God made the world through Him. “God appointed Him heir of all things and He is the One,” the end of verse 2, “through whom also He,” referring to God the Father, “made the world.” How fitting it is that the One through whom all things were created will be the One who inherits all the things that He has created. Through Him, you have God the Father and God the Son working in complete harmony along with God the Holy Spirit, even though He is not particularly focused here. The focus in this passage, the Son is. He is the One through whom God made the world.

Now if you have a note in your Bible, you will probably note the margin says literally instead of world, ages. That's a different word. The Greek word for world is cosmos. We are familiar with that, and it refers to the orderly events of this creation. This is the word aionous, it's the word for age. What he literally says is through whom also He made the ages, and this is remarkable. The ages are the periods of time and everything in them. So he not just saying cumulatively God made the world through Christ, which is remarkable, but He made all the periods of time and everything in those ages through Christ. You think about it, we talk about the different periods of time in history, we talk about the period of time in which we live, we talk about this age. But do you know what? Christ made it and everything in it. He made the ages through Him. He is the Creator of everything, all the periods of time and everything that exists in those periods of time.

Come back to John 1, who records the life of Christ. He starts out again with the remarkable unfolding of truth concerning Christ, very similar to what we are considering in the book of Hebrews. It begins “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” This is going to come up in Hebrews shortly. “He was in the beginning with God,” now note this, “all things came into being through Him,” the Word of God, referring to Christ obviously. “And apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” So he states it positively and negatively. All things came into being through Him. If you don't understand what he means by all things came into being through Him, he puts it negatively—there is nothing that has come into being that was not brought into existence by Him. When you get to the beginning, verse 1 says “in the beginning was the Word.” You can translate that literally in the beginning the Word already was. Where is the beginning? Well, in our Bibles we go back to Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the beginning the Word already was and all things came into being through Him. So He was there at the beginning because He was the Creator, if you will, of the beginning because God has no beginning. The beginning of creation, Christ was there and He was creating.

Come over to Colossians 1, and you see God repeatedly pulls together some of these great truths about His Son to drive home again and again the importance of Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:16, this is in the context of referring to Christ. “For by Him,” referring to Christ, “all things were created.” Now we understand all things. What about the angels? When he says all things were created by Him, “both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities, all things have been created through Him,” note this, “and for Him.” Remember the first point in Hebrews? God appointed Him heir of all things and He made all things through Him. And all things have been made through Him, for Him. Clear evidence and support, how do you get any more awesome and wonderful? The baby born in Bethlehem, and we have songs about His birth and the little child, and it is all true, He was born as a baby in a manger in a stable. And He is going to grow. This One who created all things, who is the heir of all things. How awesome and amazing it is?

And something of that mystery, Peter was addressing Jewish leaders in Acts 3:15 and he tells them, “you did a terrible thing, you crucified the author of life.” Amazing, Jesus Christ was the One through whom all things were brought into existence, all created life came into existence through Him. And now He is the Son who has been born at Bethlehem.

Come back to Hebrews, there are a number of other verses in each of these points that we could look at, we're just summarizing these.

Thirdly he says about Him at the beginning of Hebrews 1:3, the Son, “through whom in these last days he has spoken to us.” Verse 2, the first line, “in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.” Now he is going to tell about the greatness of the Son, not just so we have points of information, but God has spoken in the greatest, fullest, most final way in His Son. You better pay attention. This is the One through whom He created everything, this is the One who is the heir of all created things, and this is the One, verse 3, “He is the radiance of His glory.” This means that the Son of God is the manifestation of God's glorious presence. Remember in the Old Testament we have what we refer to as usually the shekinah glory. Shekinah, the glory of God's presence. And when in the tabernacle in the Old Testament God's presence would manifest itself, the cloud would come down and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Now we have present on earth the One who is the manifestation of the presence of God's glory.

Come back to John 1. We opened up talking about the Son of God, called the Word of God. He is the very manifestation and expression of God, the One who makes God known. He is God's Word, that's the point. He is the revealer of God, the One who makes God known. He was in the beginning, He created all things. Then you come down to verse 14, “And the Word became flesh.” Amazing thing, God became a human being, a man, the Word. The Word that was with God, the Word that was God, the Word that was in the beginning with God, the Word through whom all things were created. “The Word became flesh and dwelt,” again you probably have a marginal note, that word translated dwelt is the word tabernacled. “And tabernacled among us and we saw His glory.” Note that connection now, these Jews who would read this would understand the Old Testament tabernacle when God's presence came down on that tabernacle. The glory of the Lord was tabernacled there, His very presence was in the midst of His people Israel. Now we have “the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Come down to verse 18, “No one has seen God at any time, the only begotten God,” which is the preferable translation. Some manuscripts have Son, but the stronger manuscripts have the only begotten God. “Who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” Now we talk about doing exegesis of Scripture where we get down and examine and study and learn. Well Christ is the One who has exegeted the Father, made God known in a way that He had not been known before. This One who has dwelt in the closest relationship with the Father, that's what it means to be in the bosom of the Father, they were in the most intimate, close relationship. Now He has come to earth and it is God in the flesh. You see His glory.

Colossians 2:9 says “all the fullness of deity dwells in Him in bodily form.” There are things here that our human minds cannot fully grasp, that Jesus Christ, born at Bethlehem, how awesome was it when those shepherds came in and here is this little baby. And He is the One who has dwelt in eternity, He is the God who was there to bring creation into existence at the beginning. And now God in His fullness is here in a human body. Do you want to come to know God? Remember Philip said to Jesus during His earthly life, “show us the Father and I will be satisfied.” What did Jesus say to Philip? Philip, what's the problem? “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. The glory that is His is Mine.” This will be further emphasized in a moment in the next characteristic that is said about Christ. This great truth, “He is the radiance of His glory,” He is revealing, manifesting His presence.

Come back to Hebrews 1. It says furthermore in verse 3, “and not only is He the radiance of His glory, He is the “exact representation of His nature.” You can see these truths about Christ are intertwined. He is the heir of all things, that's fitting because He is the creator of all things. He is the radiance of the glory of God. That is fitting and you would expect that because He is the “exact representation of God's nature.” The exact representation of His nature, that exact representation, the word character. And it was the impression made by a stamp, a seal, a dye. In other words you get the exact duplicate of what was on that seal. He is the exact manifestation, representation of His nature. His nature refers to His substantial being. This word became a significant word in theological early history, in church history, hupostasis, His essential being, His nature, what He is as God, what makes Him God.

We talk about human nature that distinguishes you. I used the example of your dog, then I realized some people think their dog is human. So that's not a good ... He's not but I don't want to get into that conflict. So let's say a cricket. You are not a cricket, you have human nature and so does every one who is human, everything that is human partakes of certain essential qualities that make you human.

But when it comes to God there are three distinct persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—remember Christ was God but He was “with God” in John 1:1. We are making a distinction here between God the Father and God the Son. God the Son is the exact representation of the nature of God the Father. They both share the same essential being, qualities that make them God. We say there are three persons eternally existing, one God. One God eternally existing in three persons, not three gods. One God but three distinct persons. So Christ is the exact representation, manifestation if you will, of the nature of God.

Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Christ. That's what He told Philip—“he that has seen Me has seen the Father.” That doesn't mean He is the Father. In another sense you could say, I am going to be careful of illustrations because they all unravel, but if you have seen one human being, you have seen them all. There is an element of truth to that. Now there are distinctions but basically in our essential nature, what makes us human is characteristic of us all. We have different personalities and so on, but at our essential being what makes us human is unique. That's what you have with the three persons of the triune God. He is the exact representation of His nature.

Back up to Colossians 1, again we could have gone back to John 1 as well, we have this repetition so we make no mistakes, there is no confusion of the importance of Christ and the significance of His person. Come to verse 15, “He,” referring Christ here, picking up in the flow, “is the image of the invisible God.” Now that word image is a different word than we have translated exact representation, but the idea is the same. The word here denotes reveals, it's the same thing, a picture. It is the image. We have a photographic image of a person, that shows you them. Here, in a fuller way, Christ is the image of the invisible God. So when Christ was born at Bethlehem, He took to Himself humanity, He became visible. And the amazing thing is the humanity He took to Himself will be His forever. He will never cease to be truly human. He has always been deity, He had no beginning, He created humanity. But when He took to Himself humanity, He is the God/Man, He is the One who is fully and clearly the manifestation of the invisible God. You understand, when Christ walked the earth He got hungry, tired, would be crucified on a cross. But that human body contains all the fullness of deity and there is a mystery there that we do not plumb the depths of. I believe it because the eternal God says it is true. But how awesome to grasp in any kind of real deep way what that would mean. How awesome is that. “He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation.” He has the priority because as he goes on to say He brought all creation into existence.

Go to 2 Corinthians 4. As we have talked about, and we are studying the book of Revelation regularly on Sunday morning, the spiritual battle going on between the forces of the devil, the devil's people and God and His forces, people that belong to Him and angels. And note what he says, verse 3, “If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The work of the devil, he does not want people to understand who Jesus Christ really is. As the spiritual says, “they didn't know who You was.” That's the point, the devil, to blind people, to have them go through religious . . ., sing the songs . . ., go through, really not truly grasp the significance of who He is, which gives importance to what He does.

Come back to Hebrews 1, the middle of verse 3, the fifth fact about Christ emphasized here. He is the One “upholding all things by the word of His power.” So He is the heir of all things, He created all things, you understand He is truly God, now God in human flesh. He is upholding, present tense, He upholds all things. Usually in English our participles have “ing” on the end. This is a present tense, you could put it that way. “And He is upholding all things by the word of His power.” That word translated upholding means to be carrying along. He is moving it and bringing it to its intended goal.

Everything as we have talked about often in our studies is on track. I understand that Jesus Christ is God, understand something of His power. He is upholding all things, bearing them, the idea of carrying them along so they come to their ultimate, appointed goal. How does He do that? By His powerful word, the word of His power.

Come back to Colossians 1. We had verse 16, “For by Him all things were created, the heavens, on earth, visible and invisible, all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things.” Now note this, “and in Him all things hold together.” There is a different word than the word we have in Hebrews, upholding all things. But the point is very similar. In Hebrews He is upholding all things, He is bearing them, carrying them along to their appointed goal. Here we have a different word but the same point, that “in Him all things hold together.” One commentator on this Greek word says it means Christ has created and maintains in perfect order stability and productivity. In other words there is stability, there is order. He is carrying everything along in His ordained order, stability, so it accomplishes what He wants through the various ages that He created so that everything will come to His appointed end when He inherits all things, the One who created all things. These are great words of assurance. Great brilliant scientists in their spiritual blindness.

I was reading recently, maybe some of you were, of a very famous scientist who was talking about his fear that the earth only has this much time, and we have to do something. It is going to burn up, it's going to dry up. Everything is fine. You know the turmoil, the uncertainty from the human perspective, it's all under control. He holds all things together by His powerful word as He is carrying it along to its appointed end. The world is not going to burn up until it is God's time to renovate the earth by fire. Won't have anything to do with climate change. I'm not into that battle, I'm just saying everything is under control. We have hurricanes and fires and volcanoes and floods, and we remember what the prophet said. God asks the questions through the prophet, “has evil come into a city and I have not done it?”

It looks like catastrophes and unsettling and the world is coming apart, it is not. It's a mess because of sin but the God that we serve is holding it all together so that all these things aren't frustrations. Remember He created the ages and everything in them for His purposes. And we can look at the ages of past history and we see the Black Plague, we say all part of His moving it along because He is bringing it to this appointed end. “He holds it all together by His powerful word.” He is not up there scrambling to keep up, He is not as some more modern theologians have come up with…that He is just adjusting to everything going on. That shows how good He is. He really doesn't know for sure what is going to happen, but He is adjusting along the way. No, no, no, no. But He is carrying it all along, He gives it its stability. Remember that when you turn on the news and you see things going on, you think my God, the Savior that is mine, He is moving it along, He is seeing that it produces what He wants, that it does what He wants as it moves toward judgment in connection with His taking possession of what He is the rightful heir of.

Come back to Hebrews 1:3, the sixth thing. “He upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand.” He made purification of sins. Now note the tenses here. Remember, I said the word upholds in verse 3 is a present tense, that denotes something He is doing, He is doing today. He is upholding all things by the word of His power. He has always done that, there are things in that I don't understand. But He is upholding all things by the word of His power. Now he goes to what we would normally refer to in Greek as a past tense. “He made purification of sins.” He is presently upholding all things but in a past time He made purification of sins. This is crucial, foundational to everything. His being born into the human race was at the heart of God's plan to enable the creation that had fallen into sin to experience redemption so there could be a redeemed creation to join in the inheritance of the Son of God. He made purification of sins, past tense, it is done. It is done, He has done it. This is the major emphases of the book of Hebrews.

Turn over to Hebrews 9, and in the context he is contrasting what happened in the Old Testament with what happened in the New. People are still going on, you go to the Roman Catholic Church and do mass, you have people trying to keep the Ten Commandments, people doing all kinds of things, think that this is what will please God or bring them into right relationship with God. He is contrasting with the Old Testament. The Old Testament priest had to keep making sacrifices over and over and over because “the blood of bulls and goats couldn't take away sin.” Now God in His grace forgave the sin of those who believed what He said and responded in faith by offering the sacrifice that He required. So that provided a cleansing on the human, visible side. Verse 13, this is what you could get from the blood of bulls and the ashes of a heifer, “but how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

Come down to verse 22, “According to the Law all things must be cleansed with blood, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Down in verse 26, after showing the contrast. The High Priest, the head of the priestly system in Israel, had to offer sacrifices every day, and once a year there was the major focal sacrifice. And that went on. Do you know what happened when the High Priest died? Another High Priest replaced him so the sacrifices went on. With Christ, down in verse 26, Christ, if His sacrifice weren't sufficient, He would have had to be sacrificed continually. “But once, at the consummation of the ages, He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” It's done by one sacrifice.

Come to Hebrews 10:10, “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Verse 14, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who were sanctified.” Why would people be going back so the priest could offer another sacrifice? I mean, it's a denial of what God says about His Son, Jesus Christ. It is an offense, it is not something pleasing to Him nor is it pleasing when people think they will try to be more religious, try to keep the Ten Commandments, be baptized, take communion, do whatever by their own works. Christ offered one sacrifice for sin, it is done.

Come back, and again the intertwining of these things. “He made purification of sins,” and when He did, “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.” Do you know what that means? Remember we have studied the tabernacle, the temple. In that temple the outer portion, the inner portion, there are various pieces of furniture—candlesticks, altar of incense, ark of the covenant. Do you know what there is not in there? Chairs, no place for the priest to sit down as he went about his ministry. Do you know why? It was never finished. Do you know what is significant here when it says He sat down? He made purification of sins and He sat down? There is nothing else to be done, it is completed. Contrast to the Old Testament priest, there were no chairs provided there for him because it was a reminder he is never done with his work. The sacrifices have to go on and on and on and on and on until Christ comes, and He offers one sacrifice and He sits down. The work is done. All that is left for you to benefit from it is to believe. I think He wants me to keep the Ten Commandments, I think I have to be baptized, I think I have to go to confession, I think I have to partake of the mass, the “unbloody” sacrifice of Christ. What a pagan ritual that is. There is one sacrifice for sins, it has been done, it cannot be repeated. Christ has sat down at the right hand of the Father. And furthermore it says and now “at the right hand of the Father,” Hebrews 7:25, He is there “as our intercessor.” There are no go-betweens, you don't have to come to me as though I were a priest so that I can go to God for you. If you trust Christ, you go directly because He is your High Priest. He sat down at the right hand of the Father.

Come back to Hebrews 8:1, “Now the main point,” we want to get the point of what he is driving point. Here is the main point “of what has been said is this, we have such a high priest.” That high priest “who is able to save forever” those who place their faith in Him and what is preceded here. What has He done? He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on High. It's the highest position, the right hand of the Father, having finished the work that the Father had Him come to earth to do—provide redemption so that the purposes and plans of the triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit could be realized. Redemption, there has to be a Redeemer, the penalty for sin has to be paid.

So Hebrews 7:25 I referred to, “Therefore He is also able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” What kind of audacity is this, we have earthly organizations appointing saints, now you can go pray to them. That is paganism at its worst, the corruption of the truth. We have a high priest, come directly to Him, He is your intercessor, He is seated at the right hand of the Father.

Come over to Hebrews 10:10, which we just read about. “This will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now under the Old Testament Mosaic system every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices which could never take away sin. But He offering one sacrifice for sins for all time sat down at the right hand of the God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet,” which is connected to the prophecy of Psalm 110. This is God's provision, this is where there is redemption.

Put these points up if you would, let me just run through them quickly, what we have covered. The greatness of the Son, He is the Son in His unique way.

1. God the Father appointed Him“heir of all things, that is where everything is going. Let's start there, at the end. Like I tell you, I like to read the last chapter, then come back. We start at the last chapter, He is the heir of all things. Let's settle that.

2. God made the world through Him, all creation, things in heaven and on earth. The angels and the world and all that is in it, all the ages, everything. All made through Him.

3. He is the radiance of His glory, He reflects, He manifests, He reveals the glory of the presence of Almighty God.

4. He is the exact representation of His nature. When you have seen Christ, you have seen the Father; when you have rejected Christ, you have rejected God the Father. There is no middle ground, there is no other way. And you cannot pick and choose. Well, I think He was a great man but I doubt He was God. Then you don't believe He is the exact representation of His nature. This is not thrown out by God as bargaining points. Well, I'll accept four of the seven, maybe even five, the deity sort of hangs me up. I don't know if I could go that far. Well, then you are going to hell, this is who He is. I'm not saying you have to understand everything, I don't understand everything, but I believe what God says about His Son.

5. He is upholding all things by the word of His power. He gives me confidence, security, I'm not concerned that an asteroid is going to hit the earth and bring it to an end. I'm not concerned that climate change is going to . . ., I'm not convinced that we are going to have an ice age and there won't be anything left on earth but ice and I'm not convinced fire on the other side. I am convinced there is a Savior and He is the sovereign. He upholds all things by the word of His power.

6. This is the point you must not miss, He made purification of sins. You know the sad thing, I hear so many of the songs that have such good words and yet people don't know He made purification of sins. Do you know what that means? That means you and I are hopelessly lost and on our way to hell, that God had to have His Son come to this earth, take to Himself humanity so that as the God/Man He could go to the cross and do for us what we could not do without going to an eternal hell. You could not be saved if you did not hear this message, but you can hear this message and not be saved. Hearing this message won't save you. Hearing and believing this truth will save you.

That's what the coming of Christ is all about, Christ said I “came to give My life a ransom for many.” And he did. The work was done, He sat down. There is nothing else to do, you cannot earn your salvation, you can't work your way to heaven, you cannot buy your way to heaven, there is no one who can get you to heaven. All they can do is tell you the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, in order that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.” And we ought to go on, that's John 3:16. We ought to not just memorize John 3:16 but you ought to go to the end of the chapter, “he that has the Son has life, he that does not have the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” The Son of God came to rescue us from the condemnation of our own sin, from the wrath of a holy God who will condemn sinners to hell. He came and made purification of sins and so “the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.”

The question is, have you trusted Christ Jesus? I was raised in the church, I was raised in this church, could have been baptized in this church. That won't save you, what will save you is recognizing your sin and guilt before God, recognizing that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to be the Savior from sin and that you place your faith in Him and Him alone. No wonder we celebrate the birth of Christ. Everything about Christ is worthy of celebration, it's a privilege to do so.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. We are in awe that Your Son came to this sin-cursed earth, was rejected by His own creation, by His own people, yet He persevered and went to the cross to fulfill the plan made in eternity, that Your Son who created all things would become the Savior of the creation that rebelled against You. Thank You today as we celebrate His birth and remember it in special ways that He is the Savior and that offer of salvation is graciously still made to sinners like us. We praise You in Christ's name, amen.